Ex-parte Order Passed Without Granting an Opportunity of Personal Hearing to Assessee to Be Set Aside | HC

Case Details: Kuehne Nagel (P.) Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra - [2023] 157 taxmann.com 366 (Bombay)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • G.S. Kulkarni & Jitendra S. Jain, JJ.
  • Yash Prakash i/by PDS Legal for the Petitioner.
  • Ms Shruti D. Vays, Addl. G.P. & Ms P.N. Diwan, AGP for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was engaged in business of freight forwarding, clearance etc. An audit was conducted and GST department issued a show cause notice along with summary order seeking to demand from petitioner tax along with interest and penalty. The petitioner filed its reply to said show cause notice but the GST Authority passed an ex parte order raising demand of tax along with interest and penalty. It filed writ petition against the order.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that in reply to show cause notice, the petitioner had explicitly stated for personal hearing before any decision was taken by Adjudicating Authority. Thus, in absence of petitioner waiving its right of a personal hearing, the provisions of Section 75(4) would be squarely applicable and accordingly, an obligation was cast on Adjudicating Authority to grant an opportunity of hearing to petitioner. Thus, the Court held that the impugned order passed without granting an opportunity of a personal hearing to petitioner was violative of principles of natural justice and same was to be set aside.